Leeds United gamble could leave Burnley with £120m deficit as deadline looms - YEP 21/4/22
Burnley's attempt to mirror Leeds United's recent managerial switch could leave the club on the brink of a return to the Championship
By Joe Donnohue
In Premier League terms, Leeds United's divisional rivals
Burnley have operated on a shoe-string budget throughout their top flight
tenure.
However, with limited time to save themselves from the
imminent threat of relegation, the club's American ownership made the decision
last week to relieve manager Sean Dyche of his duties.
The 50-year-old had presided over 425 matches as Clarets
boss, across a nine-and-a-half year period, but the team's mooring inside the
Premier League's bottom three this season ultimately proved fatal.
In doing so, the Lancashire club have appointed coach
Michael Jackson and first-team central defender Ben Mee to temporarily mitigate
their managerial vacancy.
Burnley intend to appoint an interim manager until the end
of the season, before stepping up their search for a more permanent fixture in
the off-season.
While comparisons can be drawn between Leeds' decision to
end Marcelo Bielsa's time at Elland Road and Dyche's more recent exit, there
are several key differences.
In late February, Bielsa was sacked and replaced by Jesse
Marsch within 36 hours. The Whites' hierarchy moved quickly to secure their
preferred candidate - who had been known to director of football Victor Orta
for a number of years - expediting the American's arrival, which had originally
been planned for the end of the season.
Contrastingly, Burnley will remain in managerial limbo until
the current campaign finishes, in which Premier League safety is anything but a
foregone conclusion.
Similarly, the timing with which Burnley have made the
decision to unseat Dyche leaves an interim manager just seven games to
transform the club's fortunes.
Marsch on the other hand, was given 12 matches - or cup
finals, as he stated shortly after taking the Elland Road job - which provided
a grace period of two early defeats to Leicester City and Aston Villa before
the side began to purr.
Leeds have claimed ten points from the last 12 available,
moving clear of immediate relegation peril, despite not yet being
mathematically safe.
Burnley's seven remaining fixtures pit them against just two
sides in the top half of the Premier League table, suggesting there are
winnable matches on the horizon, should a caretaker boss manage to get a tune
out of the Clarets' squad.
Eight points clear of Burnley, Leeds are navigating waters
considerably less choppy than the rudderless Lancastrians.
Continued Premier League membership is expected to raise an
additional £120 million, per the Whites' latest accounts.
Competing in the top flight of English football affords
clubs a sizeable financial incentive and advantage, as Leeds have found over
the past two seasons.
According to the club's 2021 accounts, Leeds United Football
Club Limited saw a £124.2 million increase in broadcast revenue between the
2019/20 campaign in the Championship and 2020/21 season as a Premier League
outfit.
Burnley's decision to oust Dyche after nearly ten years,
leaving an as yet unnamed replacement in temporary charge, runs the risk of
forfeiting that financial advantage if they are relegated at the end of the
season.